To craft engaging nonfiction prose, young writers should focus on a specific idea or concept of interest and use acclaimed children's books as mentor texts to help them understand options for developing their ideas. In this article, the authors provide examples of high‐quality children's nonfiction for exploring various formats and text structures and for developing effective expressive voice and rich language—all craft techniques associated with excellent expository informational writing and consistent with the Common Core State Standards. Specific discussion questions and activities are included.

Love children's books? Anxious to see your children or students develop a love for books and reading? Then this app is tailor made for you.
Need a good mystery for your ten-year-old? Are you teaching a unit on dinosaurs and need an exciting selection of dinosaur titles for your class? Or is your granddaughter fascinated by fire engines, and so you are after a great picture book about them for her birthday?
Kid's Book Finder quickly places more than 28,000 fully annotated children's book titles at your fingertips, with new titles being added regularly. Searching can be as easy or detailed as you wish. In moments, you can produce an annotated list of alphabet books for pre-school children. Or a selection of books about space flight for students ages 10-12. Or a list of vampire novels for young adults. Or poetry books that have won a John Newbery or Newbery Honor Book Award.
Well-known professors of children's literature, Drs. Michael O. Tunnell and James S. Jacobs, have spent years compiling this diverse list of children's book titles. They have taught university-level children's literature courses for a combined total of more than sixty years. Over those years, they also have written numerous professional articles and books about literature for young readers, including their popular textbook Children's Literature, Briefly.

This article identifies and explains the various elements of book design and illustrates how teachers can call attention to these elements to help students appreciate and comprehend the various aspects of nonfiction texts. Examples from the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction finalists are used to illustrate each design element. Additionally, through an interview with the book’s designer, Roberta Pressel, we explore how design elements contribute richly to both aesthetic and efferent reading experiences in Philip Hoose’s (2012) Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95.